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Grolin
Grolin was a young, vain Dwarf with a chip on his shoulder. Son of a minor noble family, he had long enjoyed the good life, his by birth-right, and his fall from the King's favor had badly bruised his substantial ego. He now bore a grudge against Bain. A handsome Dwarf, Grolin made no pretense of being a warrior, or even much of a worker, and he wore his auburn beard long and free in open defiance of style and good sense. He bragged that the tip of his beard had never met the inside of his belt. A number of young Dwarves emulated this style, but even they tucked their beards into their belts when working. Fashion could only be taken so far. For many years, the handsome youngster was a favorite of the King. Always quick with a witty word to set the royal court laughing, he was the toast of almost every social event of any import. He was constantly in the company of the most powerful members of Moria's society, and a number of extremely eligible young Dwarf-Women pined after him. If Grolin had a weakness, it was that he thought even better of himself than did those that worshiped him from afar. His ego was quite swollen and, although he was unusually thick-skinned, when someone did puncture his pride, Grolin became quite vengeful. That, along with his taste for ale, was the cause of his undoing. His lite of fame and luxury ended suddenly one night, after Grolin had enjoyed one mug too many. While attending a great dinner, he stood up and recited a witty poem to the royal couple—a limerick he conjured on the spot. Unfortunately, drink clouded his judgment, and stuck for a rhyme, he inserted a couplet insinuating that the King and Queen looked enough alike to be twins. While the King viewed this slip of the tongue goodnaturedly, the Queen took instant offense. She demanded an apology from Grolin. Taken aback for a moment, Grolin protested that he had done nothing wrong and attempted to extricate himself from his predicament with waggish deprecation. Bris grew even more incensed at the fact that Grolin would try to make her look the fool in front of the assembled guests. At her behest, the King banished Grolin from the royal court. The King accorded Grolin the opportunity to return to the court's good standing by making an earnest and public apology to the Queen. Unable to swallow his hubris, Grolin refused. And so his wrath at being (at least from his point of view) unjustly barred from the court had festered and grown. Grolin was seething with a need to revenge himself on Bris, a woman he saw as entirely lacking in a sense of humor (an accurate assessment, at least when it came to her looks). To do this, he was willing to bring down the line of Dúrin. To this end, he had allied himself with Falin. Grolin knew every Dwarven noble by name, and many of them considered him a friend. He felt certain that, given the questions about Bain's birthright, he could bring a number of them over to Falin's side should open rebellion befall the kingdom. In truth, most of these folk agreed that the King handled the situation properly and that Grolin should simply apologize. Few shared this opinion with Grolin, and those who did so had earned his undying enmity. References *MERP:Lords of Middle-earth Vol III: Hobbits, Dwarves, Ents, Orcs & Trolls Category:Dwarf Category:Moria Category:Firebeard Category:1640 Category:Third Age